Friday, July 13, 2012

Fear Friday - It's that time of the year again!

Welcome to another Fear Friday at Laughing Vixen Lounge. Yes, it's that time of year again. The second one this year! That unlucky day that has been
forever linked to one of the greatest Choppy McSlashy movie series of all
time. So pop some popcorn, kill the lights and get ready for a little
fright. This weeks selection is in honor of today's date...

May 9th 1980 a low budget slasher film is released and helps shape the
face of the horror genre. The setup is simple, a group of kids out in
the woods with one shadowy figure out for revenge. Just the right amount
of blood with a creepy atmosphere makes for a fun ride and start one of
the most successful franchises in horror history. The people behind
Friday The 13th, looking to cash in on the success of
"Halloween", shopped the movie around strictly on the title alone. They
had no story yet just a great title. 12 movies later it's still a
favorite of many horror fans.

I remember back in the sixth grade my friend Mary and I begging my mom
to let us rent it. We wanted the original because Kevin Bacon was in it
and Footloose was all the rage at the time. In those days the local
video store rarely had more than one copy of a title so we had to settle
for chapter 3. Problem was it had been filmed in 3D, as was the craze
at the time, but looked a bit silly on a regular TV. Lots of holding
things out close to the camera for extended periods of time. Not that
Mary or I would have noticed much as we spent most of the time with our
heads hidden behind the afghan. And yes, we made my mom watch it with
us. It truly scared me and is why these movies, especially the old ones,
still creep me out completely.

Being a teen in the late 80's I remember going to the theater to see
many of the later ones. At one point I believe they were going to
release one a year until they hit 13. Unfortunately the story was worn
thin and the chapters became increasingly silly to the point of
unwatchable. I mean really, "Jason Takes Manhattan"? In 1993
"Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday" was released. It's one of the few
times I thought about walking out of a movie. A once scary feel had
turned into a laughable parody of itself.

Then, in 2002, came a revamp of the series with "Jason X". OK, so Jason
in space sounds absurd but I actually quite enjoyed it. It was something
different for the series and Jason was back in fine killing form. Long
gone was the truly creepy feeling of the originals, but this was a fun
slasher film none the less. Then, in 2003, came "Freddy vs. Jason". This
made me sad at first but my nephews where old enough to see horror
films and they begged me to take them. It was fun. Just a bit sad to see
these two franchises go from scary to completely campy.

In 2009 a new modern "Friday The 13th" was released. Not really a remake
since they acknowledged the happenings of the original movie. I like to
think of it as the next chapter in the series. Lots of people didn't
think much of this one. I went and saw it at a midnight showing and
really liked it. It had a creepy atmosphere, classic "stoopid pretty
people in the woods" setting and was just fun. One thing I really liked
was down in Jason's creepy underground dwelling he had mementos of his
killings. There are camp councilor's whistles hanging on the wall. A
wheelchair is noticeable in one scene which recalls one councilor in
chapter 2. It gave an extra creepy feel to the character.

Jason Voorhees... Little Boy Drowned

Jason was not even in the first chapter. It was his mother, Mrs.
Voorhees, seeking revenge for her son who drowned in Crystal Lake while
councilors where not watching him. Jason appears, all grown up, in the
second chapter as the killer but does not sport his infamous hockey mask
until the end of chapter 3. For the first part of the movie he wears an
old gunny sack on this head. Blaaah ick yuck! That was way creepier to
me and I was happy when he traded it in for the hockey mask. He is
killed in chapter 4 by a machete. Chapter 5 leads us to believe
Jason's back but ends up not really being him (rip off). He is zapped
back to life by a bolt of lightening in chapter 6 and is pretty much
invincible after that. Just goes to show you can't keep a good man down!

Don't have time to watch all 12 movies? Here is a fun compilation of kills from the series.

A little trivia...

1. The movie was filmed at Camp Nobebosco in New Jersey. The
camp is still in operation to date, and they have a wall of Friday the
13th paraphernalia to honor the fact that the movie was set there.

2.
Composer Harry Manfredini has said that contrary to popular belief, the
famous "chi chi chi, ha ha ha" in the film's score is actually "ki ki
ki, ma ma ma". It is meant to resemble Jason's voice saying "kill kill
kill, mom mom mom" in Mrs. Voorhees' mind. It was inspired by the scene
in which Mrs. Voorhees seems to be possessed by Jason and chants "Get
her mommy....kill her!" Manfredini created the effect by speaking the
syllables "Ki" and "Ma" into a microphone running through a delay
effect.

3. While most of the cast and crew stayed at
local hotels during the filming, some of the loyal cast and crew
members, including Tom Savini, and Taso N. Stavrakis, stayed at the
actual camp site. They had Savini's Betamax VCR and only a couple of
movies (Barbarella (1968) and Marathon Man (1976)) on videotape to keep
themselves entertained, so each night they would watch one of these
movies. To this day, Savini says he can recite those movies by heart.

4.
Victor Miller had originally given Jason the name of Josh. After
deciding that it sounded too nice, he changed it to Jason after a school
bully.

5. Victor Miller's working title for the script was "Long Night at Camp Blood".

6.
The movie was sold to investors strictly on it's name. There had not
been a movie called Friday the 13th so they grabbed it, made up a poster
and shopped it around. No one knew that they had no idea or script for
it.